WHEN DO YOU FEEL THESE EMOTIONS? Edgy Dreading Restless Obsessed Overwhelmed
*Edgy, each morning until I confirm my precious 21-year-old cat has made it through the night.
*Dread, the minute I see the email that requires me to set up new technology.
*Restless, when I'm avoiding a conversation.
*Obsessing, after getting things wrong rather than defaulting to faith it will work out (sometimes I default to perfectionism).
*Overwhelmed, once I reach my limit of being able to suppress my fears. (A better option is Psalm 56:3 WEB, "When I am afraid, I will trust in you.")
I could go on but I'd rather ask, "What's on your list?"
Where are you not allowing yourself to be aware, acknowledge, and hand-off fear to the Lord?
In my course lesson on Emotional Self-Awareness, I use a Feelings Inventory by Dr. Laura Belsten. The handout puts feelings into 9 categories. The emotions I named above fall into the Fear section. (Well, of course they do!)
But at first glance I didn't acknowledge, didn't allow myself to be aware, they were connected to fear. Instead, I just kept on. Then life becomes really small, really tight, because I'm avoiding, shrinking, being squeezed until I can't take a full breath, can't lift my head.
Psalm 3:3 WEB says, "But you, Yahweh, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head."
I realize I'm doing life wrong.
Here at Deliberate Presence, we're declaring this month to be "Fearless February." Would you like to join us?'
It's not that we're going to be amazingly brave and never feel fear. Rather, it's because we're going to choose to become aware of fear so we can follow the model of James 5:16 WEB: "Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective."
Join in! Let's be insistent in prayer and powerfully effective.
Let's create the habit of giving our fears to the Lord! Hooray for Fearless February!
